Birmingham City's assistant manager Pierluigi Casiraghi has confirmed that he and Gianfranco Zola were "close" to being appointed at Inter Milan.

It was reported in November that Zola had been interviewed by the Italian club for the position of head coach after Frank de Boer was sacked.

And the speculation resurfaced last week when James Horncastle, a leading Italian football journalist, said that the 50-year-old had indeed held talks with Inter prior to arriving at Blues in December.